With The Drums
by The Power Of Names
Summary: Aladdin had a secret skill. A skill Jasmine was shocked by one day when she went to drag him to dinner and saw him practicing with Abu.


Jasmine was quite happy to have Aladdin and his strange little family living in the palace. She could see him anytime she wished, knew they had plenty to eat, and there was no chance of him disappearing on her.

That wasn't to say he was a prisoner though, far from it. After she explained everything to her father they agreed that trapping her in the palace again would be unnecessary. She and Aladdin often found themselves wandering through the marketsplace and buying food for those who could not. Often, these were children and it was heartbreaking.

Until the wedding, Aladdin would be in separate rooms. That was her father's demand and since it said nothing about her visiting him in those rooms the princess saw no need to argue. The rooms in question were rather nice. They reminded her of the home Aladdin had taken her to when they first met. Not overly cluttered and a wide open space in the floor.

Abu had taken it upon himself to redecorate after they had moved in. It had been an amusing sight. Seeing a monkey giving her future husband directions about how their living space should look. The only part they had disagreed on was the enormous rug that covered the center of the floor. Aladdin refused to remove it from the rooms.

Now, it was not unusual for Jasmine to approach the doors and hear arguments, but that day she heard something new. A drum. A drum being played really well until Abu could be heard screeching "You missed it!" as the music came to a halt.

"I know, Abu. Just let me do it again."

Curious, the princess decided to spy. The drumming began again. She moved right up against the door and opened it just enough to peer inside. What she saw made her eyes go wide and her breath hitch.

Aladdin was in the middle of the rugless floor, with bare feet and a bare chest, dancing.

His hips, arms, stomach, and chest all seemed to move separately and together to the sound of the drum. It was captivating. His hips would sway and drop with such precision. The roll and flutter of his stomach stole her breath away. When he moved across the floor and out of sight she wanted to just push open the door just to continue watching.

It wasn't unheard of for men to dance, but to see him- to see Aladdin dancing like that- was beyond anything she could have imagined. It was its own type of magical. The princess had no desire to interrupt, so enjoyed what she could see until the drum finally came to a halt.

It ended with Aladdin lying on the floor, arms above his head, eyes closed, and body folded backwards over his feet. Sweat glistening over toned flesh and he was breathing almost as heavily as Jasmine found herself. She threw open the door and clapped her hands together.

"That was wonderful, Aladdin."

"Jasmine!" He exclaimed in shock, rolling onto his knees. "I... I didn't see you there."

"Why didn't you tell me you could dance?"

Aladdin looked across the room to where Abu sat with a drum. The monkey said nothing, but looked satisfied with Aladdin's performance. It amused the princess a great deal.

"Well?"

Aladdin stood slowly, not quite meeting her eyes. "I hadn't done it in a while."

"I wouldn`t have thought that. You moved so well."

"Well, Abu can be quite the taskmaster when he wants to."

Jasmine strode over to her intended. "Can you teach me?"

That seemed to surprise both the males. Abu began to chatter a bit too quickly for her to understand. That was all right though, because Aladdin could follow along.

"I guess we're teaching you," Aladdin said soon after Abu ended the speech. "You might want to take your shoes off."

Jasmine toed her slippers off and set them against the wall. "Now what?"

"Now," Aladdin stepped right behind her and placed a gentle hand against her hip, "you feel the music and move."

The drumming began once more and Jasmine decided she was extremely happy to have Aladdin living in the palace. Having him teach her to move the way he could was just an additional joy.


End file.
